There are many variables involved in the colors we see in snow. Of course when the sky is completely cloud covered or totally overcast by either fog or snow, what we see is generally rather pure white. Then when there are scattered clouds with breaks of intense blue sky, we sometimes see white and blue "patches" of snow which is made even more complex by shadowing which, as you have noticed with the cat picture, diminishes the exposure in a capture versus what we see with the human eye which continually "compensates" in our "scan" mode vis what we see in a single exposure made with an instrument.

To make things even more perplexing, we have the different "types" of snow ranging from the aforementioned powder to icy sleet. The depth of light penetration and the substrate beneath the snow can also be factors. It's sort of like the sailor determining the depth of the ocean near shoals or shallow areas by the color of the water. Green water, shallow depth, blue water, great depth. Even song writers have commented on the "blue" color in shadows often seen by human observers - I'll just close with the first verse from the song "Lonely Girls" done by Ian and Sylvia back in the 60's:

Night there is golden in the evenin'Blue shadows forty feet or moreWhen night comes rushin' fast'Cross the flatland you'll seeLonely girls linger by the doorLonely girls linger by the door

Best regards,

Lin

Richard Franiec wrote:

I can see the logic in reflection in ice crystals of the deep blue skies. I cannot really compare that in "my" altitude and conditions.

As for Lin's comment on the Nikon cat picture, I can only notice that the cat does not create "shadow", except for the side which is really blue. To me it seems like the cat was exposed for the white fur as there is not much of the blown highlights, leaving rest of the image, including skies grotesquely underexposed.

Another thing is the difference when looking at the rendered picture in post compared to original. This could lead to the not so accurate conclusions "at the first glance"